Tag: energy

PA Faces “Looming Power Crisis” After Gov. Shapiro’s Electricity Tax And Plant Closures

Not unlike the rest of the country which will soon have aggressive new power needs thanks to the data centers powering AI, Pennsylvania is also facing its own power crisis. 

Nearly a year after Gov. Josh Shapiro promised a “new era” in energy—touting job creation, lower utility bills, and billions in clean energy investment—Pennsylvanians see little progress. Instead, he promotes short-term fixes and questionable deals that do nothing to curb rising electricity costs, according to a new op-ed in the Delaware Valley Journal by Senator Gene Yaw.

Shapiro overlooks the real issue: his RGGI electricity tax and the premature shutdown of key power plants without a clear replacement strategy. When energy supply lags behind demand, prices inevitably rise, Yaw notes.

In the next decade, the grid faces a projected 80,000-megawatt shortfall. Pennsylvania, supplying a quarter of the region’s power, would need at least 20 new plants to keep pace—yet none are planned or in development.

Since RGGI’s proposal, Pennsylvania has seen no new baseload energy investment. The governor insists action is needed, yet his carbon tax push and failed policies only worsen the crisis. Real solutions require attracting energy investment, modernizing the grid, and streamlining regulations.

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Hydrogen Breakthrough: New Palladium Nanosheet Tech Could Accelerate Green Energy Revolution

Scientists have developed a cost-effective alternative to platinum for use in hydrogen production, replacing the expensive metal with palladium nanosheets to reduce costs and accelerate the shift to clean energy.

As global temperatures surpass the preindustrial benchmark outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the need for large-scale hydrogen production has become more urgent to accelerate the transition to zero-emission alternatives. However, the widespread adoption of hydrogen technology has been hindered by its dependence on costly platinum-based catalysts, making it economically unfeasible for everyday use.

Novel Hydrogen Development

Dr. Hiroaki Maeda and Professor Hiroshi Nishihara of the Tokyo University of Science (TUS) led a team consisting of other researchers from TUS, as well as contributors from Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Kyoto Institute of Technology, RIKEN SPring-8 Center, and the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan. The team produced a breakthrough in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) technology with their bis(diimino)palladium coordination nanosheets (PdDI), nearly duplicating platinum’s efficiency at a significantly lower cost.

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Ontario’s Premier Threatens to Cut Off Electricity to U.S. — Says Republicans Will ‘Feel Pain Like They’ve Never Felt Before’ 

The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has threatened the U.S. over Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on Canadian exports.

After initially putting a hold on his planned tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Trump confirmed this week that he would move forward with plans to 25 percent tariffs on both countries until both countries agreed to his demands surrounding border security.

In an interview on NBC News, Ford said he had never met a single American who supported the idea of tariffs, despite the fact that the majority of Americans voted for Donald Trump.

Ford ranted:

We are the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world. We buy over 3,600 products from 35 states. I talked to the Governor of Kentucky and Mitch McConnell. Don’t touch our bourbon. I’m going after absolutely everything.

And I don’t want to. We keep the lights on for 1.5 million homes in manufacturing in New York, in Michigan, and in Minnesota.

If he wants to destroy our economy and our families, I will shut down the electricity going down to the U.S. And I’m telling you, we will do it.

Ford then went on to say that Americans, particularly those in red states, would feel immense pain as his retaliatory measures.

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